The Nation: First Ladies Out Front

Of all the sights to emerge from the National Women's Conference,
perhaps none was more compelling than the panoply of three First Ladies
of the U.S., all precisely coiffed, dressed with impeccable
conservatism, ankles neatly crossed, sitting side by side at the
opening session in the Sam Houston Coliseum to promote the Equal Rights
Amendment. "We don't look like bomb throwers, and we don't think like
that either," said Lady Bird Johnson. Yet there they were: Lyndon
Johnson's widow, Betty Ford and Rosalynn Carter.

They stood witness for the ERA before all the debates, negotiations and
ballots got under way. How did...